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79% of millennials influenced by online deals

Consumers ages 20 to 35 are signing up for promotional emails, following on social media and scouring the web for the best deals.

Younger shoppers are out for good deals. In fact, almost 80% of millennials say that finding the best deals will impact their online shopping decisions. According to a recent report about millennial shopping by CouponFollow, 69% of this savvy generation search for coupon codes and spend at least three minutes searching for these codes.

In order to find the best promotions, millennials are searching all channels and more than half, 56%, follow brands on social media just to gain early access to savings.

Millennials, ages 20 to 35, are now advanced in spending power and brands need to adjust strategies to keep up with the platforms that these shoppers want to purchase in.

According to a recent study by Yes Lifecycle Marketing, more than half of millennials (58%) keep a separate email account just to receive brand information and promotions, versus only 26% of baby boomers who have a separate email account for brand messages. In addition, almost half of millennials (47%) have made three or more purchases via email recently, twice as many as younger centennials.

When looking at the CouponFollow data, there were two insights that stood out as particularly surprising to analysts of this report. First, it was striking to learn that, while millennials have a reputation for being technology-focused, they still make most of their purchases from brick-and-mortar stores—53% reported that the majority of their purchases are made offline.

“We believe that’s in stark contrast to what many brands may assume about the generation,” a spokesperson for CouponFollow told FierceRetail.

Second, the analysts were surprised at how often millennials searched the internet for coupons when shopping offline.

“This validates our belief that the future of retail requires a hybrid approach and that brands must work diligently to create a seamless online and offline experience,” the spokesperson added.

The millennial generation includes 80 million members and accounts for nearly $600 billion in annual spending. Because the demographic is so large, it’s not easy to pinpoint a one-size-fits-all coupon “type” that works for everyone.

“What we do know is that, according to UBS, millennials are responsible for an estimated $1.1 trillion of the country's $3.6 trillion consumer debt. And with the average millennial earning somewhere around $33,880—down 9% in just a decade and the lowest since 1980 (after adjusting for inflation)—we can say with some degree of certainty that offering significant savings makes a big difference. For instance, 66% of the millennials we surveyed said they would try a product from a competitor of their favorite brand for a 30% discount. Now that might sound like a lot to a retailer, but for the right consumer, it’s an investment worth making,” said the spokesperson.